By Pierre Ratte
Healdsburg has wonderful traditions. The creative scarecrows that show up in town around Halloween are a tradition that started in 2020. The tradition was created to foster community during the pandemic. Started by the Healdsburg Creative Leadership Team, this year’s beneficiary is Heartizens, which sponsors art programs for young people. QR codes on each scarecrow enable bidding which closes on Oct. 25. Walk the Plaza to view Heartizens’ straw-figured country folk, or find them online at heartizens.org.
Fun Facts: The Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz was played by dancer Ray Bolger after he switched from the Tin Man who was played by Buddy Ebsen—good switch. Ebsen later played “Jed Clampett” in The Beverly Hillbillies. Frank Baum wrote 13 books about Oz; The Wizard of Oz was the first. It was published in 1900 and made into a movie in 1939. An economic flop, grossing $3 million against a $2.8 million budget, it nonetheless popularized three-strip technicolor with extravagant fantasy scenes. It was not, as is often thought, the first movie to use technicolor.
Buddy Ebsen’s role in The Beverly Hillbillies ran for 274 episodes from 1962-1971. Episodes cost $25,000-$50,000; one camera was used, sets were minimal. Advertisers paid $25,000 for a 30-second commercial. With 18-20 commercials, shows grossed around $500,000. Peak viewership was 60 million per episode. For context, Seinfeld’s final episode had 76.3 million viewers and the show averaged 27 million viewers. The theme song, “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” was written by Paul Henning, who also wrote 200 episodes. Henning wrote for Fibber McGee and Molly and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, later produced The Ray Bolger Show, and created Petticoat Junction and Green Acres.
“The Ballad of Jed Clampett” was recorded by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. A No. 1 country chart hit, it went like this: “Come and listen to a story ’bout a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed. And then one day he was shootin’ at some food, and up through the ground came a-bubblin’ crude. Oil that is …” Perhaps you can complete it?
Or perhaps another song pops up? “Green Acres is the place to be. Farm livin’ is the life for me. Land spreading out so far and wide, keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside …”
